The Daily News THURSDAY, JULY 25. CURRENT COMMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 25 July 1907, Page 2

The Daily News THURSDAY, JULY 25. CURRENT COMMENT.

To nine hundred and ninety men out of a thousand, a State's methods are as Greek. The average man in a vague way metaphorically throws his hut in the air when H reads that by prudent finance, and all that kind of •thing, the Colonial Treasurer has produced one of those perennial surpluses; £704,030 is a great deal of money to save during the year. The weird thing to the uninitiated is that although during the single year the State debt has increased by nearly two million there should be any surplus at all. During the year more than a million and a halt' pounds will fall due. It will, of course, not be paid. It will bo renewed and the money necessary to do the renewing will bo borrowed. Of the two millions and a-quarter which fell due hist year only a little more than a quarter of a million was paid ofl\ It is intended to borrow n great deal more money during the coming year, although the revenue is the greatest hi the history of the colony —C8,:ii)0.075. Much of this revenue comes through the Customs and the Premier's Budget says ihat many of tin? Customs revenue avenues will be closed by the lifting of the duty from some necessities of lifn which are deScribed as "the free breakfast table/'

One item —that of sugar —is the only real ' contribution to the breaking; table, and i although the removal of the duty on sugar Is a direct benefit (technically con- | sideredj. it is yet to be seen whether the user will really gain much. The removal of the sugar tax will most naturally hit tie only sugar company which does considerable business in the colony and will allow Fiji sugar—the product of Hindoo labor—into competition. The removal of this duty is essentially a monopoly-breaking arrangement, and ii only on this account is a desirable reform. Curiously, hardly anything tliat U an actual necessity in the way of food has been relieved of the heavy imposts levied oil them, and the every-day articles of life, apart from food, and which are next to food absolutely essential, are still to be taxed to encourage the local manufacturer who may in future dally with the business.

The Colonial Treasurer's method of estimating the gain to the colony through the holding of the Exhibition is quaint. It seems it is entirely a matter of supposition. One thing is certain that the Big Fair cost £200,000. The estimate.; ;gain is nearly three hundred thousand pounds. All this is indirect, it is presumed that each tourist spent so much mnifl-y in '<!eal m.l and this is looked on as gain. Ju our humble opiniou, only the profit the retailer made out of the tourist should be reckoned as gain. To be plain if a man sells you an article t'.at cost him 2s Cd for 3s (id, he doesn't g..;n 3s Od—he only gains a shilling. If fteetrade were at any time or in any circumstances desirable it was in connection with the Exhibition, and it will always be a sore point with oversea exhibitors that a hungry Government bled them to the uttermost farthing through the Customs.

There is one I'cnlure in connection with the new land proposals tliat will meet with Ihu approval oi' people of all shades of political opinion. It is the giving of the quietus to the pernicious ballot system in respect of the disposal of land resumed under the Lands for Settlement Act, and the substitution of a system of disposal by public tender. It is intended to lis an upset rental of 5 per cent., and to allow tenderers to tender above that sum if they desire. The grouping system is also to be discontinued, each man being permitted to tender for the section that suits him. The restriction of selectors who dispose of their holdings to again compete in a ballot for a period of live years, and the prohibition of transfer except in cases in which the transferee has resided on the land for two years, are provisions designed to promote bonafide settlement. Auotlier new provision is that which provides for third-class land, in regard lo which a holding is limited to 3000 acres. The preference clauses are admirable. They provide in the ease of Crown lands that where ballots are necessary landless persons shall have preference over those who have land. Subject to this preference a further preference is extended to married persons with families. This preference has been in force for some time in regard to the Land for Settlement policy, and the .Minister for Lands states that a similar power in respect to Crown lands has been repeatedly asked for by Commissioners in various districts. In reepect to ordinary Crown lauds, however, tlie system of disposal by public tender does not apply, except that preferences of various kinds are to be given to the mast deserving and genuine applicants. These provisions should have the highly desirable effect of eliminating the gambling and speculation that have been going on in connection with the sale or lease of Government sections, and giving the man of moderate means, as well as the poor man, a much better opportunity of securing a section for himself than has been possible under the old order of things.

To-day (Thursday; is to be observed in New i'lyuiouth as. Arbor Day. There Is very little need to impress upon the people of the town the sigmucanee of the day, for that they have realised the importance of planting trees and shrubs js one of the first things that impresses itself upon the mind of visitors lo New Plymouth which iu these respects occupies an unique position amongst the towns of the colony. Favored with an equable climate and splendid shelter, trees and foilage of all descriptions have thriven to an unusual extent, and together with the public gardens liavc made New Plymouth one of the prettiest towns to be seen anywhere iu the colony. The town is under a big obligation lo the Scenery Preservation Committee and those who have taken the lead in the beaulilicalion of the town and gardens. Arbor Day, of course, has behind it a larger significance than the mere bcaatilication of our immediate surroundings, and President Kooscvelt never loses a chance in his country of referring to this aspect of the celebration. His views are worth quoting. Under cover of a message "to the school children of the United States" on the significance of Arbor Day, the President recently preached a striking little homily, showing how the nation's prosperity is largely dependent upon the preservation of its forests. "Within your lifetime," he told the children, "the nation's need of trees wiil become serious. We of the older generation can gel along with what we have, though with growing hardship; but in your full manhood and womanhood you will want what Nature once so bountifully supplied and man thoughtlessly destroyed; and because of that want you will reproach us, not for what we have used, but for what we have wasted,"

The President remarked lliat the value of forestry deserved to be taught in schools, and added that if Arbor Day helps tlip children to realise what benefit each one receives from the forests, and how. I.y their assistance, these benclits may continue, it will serve a good end. An acknowledged truism he expressed in this very striking manner:—"A people without children would face a hopeless future: a country without trees is al-mo-l a* hopeless; forests which are so u-ej that tiey cannot renew themselves would soon vanish, and with them all Heir benelits. A true forest is not merely a storehouse full of wood, lint, as it were, a factory of wood, and at the same time, a reservoir of water. When you help to preserve our forests or (o plant, new ones, you are acting the 'part of good citizens." There is great practical wisdom in tluV little message of the President of the United States to the children. It is seed that, will not ■fall upon stony places.